INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN— ADDITIONS TO ORIGINAL SITE— HENRY M. BAUGHMAN-- INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGES— CLAY AND STONE INDUSTRIES— THE MONON BANK— STATE BANK OF MONON— THE TOWN COMMISSIONED HIGH SCHOOL-- MONON'S PUBLIC LIBRARY— PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH-- FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH-- THE BAPTIST CHURCH— SOCIETIES.
Situated at the juncture of the two Monon lines, in the northwestern part of White County, Monon is a clean and substantially built town of 1,200 people. As the center of a large area of productive country, in grain, stone and clay, its natural advantages drew the attention of business men to the locality at an early day, and finally the precise location of the permanent town was determined by the construction of the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago Railroad and the platting of New Bradford, which displaced the old town of West Bedford.
The history of Monon as a town commences with the year 1879, when an incorporation was effected under the name of the old postoffice established in 1838; both the postoffice and the Town of Monon were then made uniform, and from that time dates a marked and substantial growth.
Only one addition was made to the Town of Monon previous to its incorporation, and that was platted only about a year after the laying out of the original town. On the 7th of August, 1854, James K. Wilson made an addition of sixty-three lots lying north of the original plat, and on the 29th of September of the same year Benjamin Ball made a second addition of ninety-four lots in the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 21. These sufficed to meet the expansion of the place for thirty years.
Benjamin F. Linville platted twenty-two lots as an addition to the town site, on April 15, 1884, and in January, 1885, Horace C. Lyman increased it by fifty-six lots. On August 1, 1889, William H. Hinckle made his addition of fifty-five lots, and he was followed, in December, 1895, by Emma J. Turpie, who platted her addition of 145 lots.
Emma J. Turpie, who made the addition heretofore noted, was the daughter of Henry M. Baughman, a pioneer of Noble County, Indiana, who settled near Reynolds in 1867 and was afterward engaged in business in the Town of Monon. He also owned and operated a large farm in Monon Township not far from the town.
In the winter of 1879 and the spring of 1880, soon after the town incorporation, William Scott and Company built an elevator in the east part of town with facilities for shelling corn and storing and cleaning grain. There had been several small elevators before, but the Scott plant had a storage capacity of 10,000 bushels and a cleaning capacity of 2,000 bushels daily, and was a manifest evidence of the growing importance of Monon as a grain center.
Both with the growth of its railroad facilities and the improvement of the surrounding country, Monon has continuously added to its standing in that regard and also became an advantageous point for the buying and shipping of live stock. There are two elevators and a mill in operation, and the railroad provides convenient yards for handling cattle, hogs and other live stock.
In the early '80s E. G. Egbert and Company, proprietors of a local hardware store, commenced to develop the clay deposits at Monon, in the line of brick and tile manufactures, and the industry has bcen continued, intermittently, for thirty years or more. Plants are now in operation for the manufacture both of tiles and building blocks, and a mile south of town B. H. Dickson has a large stone crushing establishment which supplies the bulk of the material used in the building of the gravel roads of the county. Many of the farmers of the region also used the pulverized products of the mills as fertilizers.
The substantial business and industrial life of Monon is also illustrated by the fact that it sustains two good banks. The oldest of these establishments is the Monon Bank, established in June, 1892, by C. M. Horner, who has continued as its president. He commenced business as a general merchant in 1865, has continued as an active factor in the progress of the town and has a wide scope of interests. He is owner of the oldest elevator, proprietor of a large garage and largely interested in real estate. He has increased the capital of the Monon Bank from $10,000 to $25,000, and its deposits have reached $200,000. Its first cashier, George Baxter, was succeeded by W. C. Horner, son of the president.
This institution was organized July 2, 1906, with a capitalization of $25,000. There were about sixty-two stockholders in and around Monon and because of this the bank had an auspicious beginning. The first officers were W. S. Baugh, president; Fred Thomas, vice president, and F. C. Cassell, cashier. The capital of the bank has remained the same as in the beginning. In 1909 T A. Hollingsworth succeeded Mr. Cassell as cashier, and in 1910 Dr. John Stuart succeeded Mr. Thomas as vice president. In 1911 Carl Middlestadt succecdcd Mr. Hollingsworth as cashier, and with the exceptions named the bank's official roster has remained unchanged. It owns its own modern bank building, which was erected in 1913.
The first schools of the township originated in the vicinity and on the site of old West Bedford and they flourished, in their way, during the '40s and '50s. Then New Bradford displaced West Bedford, and school accommodations were transferred accordingly. Fair schools were followed by better and better, by almost best, the culmination being the present Town Commissioned High School, under the superintendency of George F. Lewis. The principal of the high school department is M. R. Holtzman. Besides the superintendent and principal there are eight teachers. The building, which is in the north end of town, was dedicated in 1902. It is a handsome two-story and basement structure of brick, with stone trimmings, and contains fifteen rooms. Its dimensions on the ground are 103 by 101 feet. The heating, lighting and sanitary arrangements, as well as working conveniences and appliances, are modern. The curriculum embraces the usual courses, including manual training and sewing—the latter branches being confined to the high school and the three upper grades of the grammar department. The average attendance is as follows: First grade, 46; second, 42; third, 32; fourth, 35; fifth, 32; sixth, 36; seventh, 33; eighth, 24; high school, 85. Total, 365.
The Public Library at Monon is also an educator of broad usefulness. It has a tasteful building of recent construction and houses 2,500 volumes for reference and circulation, and its patrons are drawn from all parts of the township. The library was the outgrowth of the efforts of the Current Literature Club, the members of which collected its first 500 volumes. Mrs. Laura E. Winkley, wife of an old and respected citizen and who had taken much interest in the first steps taken toward the establishment of the library, was elected first librarian, and was followed in January, 1915, by Miss Emma A. Pogue, the present incumbent. The management of the Public Library comprises the following officers: A. D. Hornback, president; J. H. Cunningham, vice president; Maude Burroughs, secretary, and Margaret Hay, treasurer.
The churches of Monon are represented by the Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian denominations--the last named being the oldest. The Presbyterian Church was organlzed at West Bedford about 1839, and its first pastor was Rev. Alexander Williamson, who had already preached at Monticello as the pioneer settled minister of that place. Among the early members of the church were Thomas Downey and wife, William Wilson and wife and Mrs. Kepperling. The present pastor is Rev. M. L. Rice, a man of seemingly boundless energy, who has interested himself in various industrial and business enterprises as well as in church-welfare.
Monon Methodism in organized form is more than half century old, but there were individual Methodists here at even an earlier period. The first society in Monon had its beginning in 1861, with Rev. J. L. Boyd as pastor in charge, and William H. Gibson and wife, John D. Moore and wife, Mrs. Theresa Duvall, Mrs. Susan Hebner, and William Shackelford and wife and others, whose names are unknown as members. William Shackleford was class leader and the class numbered fifteen. The place of worship was on South Arch Street, where M. 0'Mara resides. This was also the place of Presbyterian and Baptist meetings and it is said the services were attended by all regardless of denomination.
The same building represented Monon's first schoolhouse, where the faculty embraced two teachers and two rooms were occupied by the pupils.
In the spring of 1870, the first Baptist Church was built, and this was used by the Methodists until 1882, when their first church home was erected at a cost of $1,500 on its present site. The parsonage, which had been purchased in 1868, was a one-story building adjacent to the church. The building was afterward enlarged by the addition of two wings to meet the needs of the congregation. But as the years went on, these additions were insufficient, and in the spring of 1908 ground for a new church was purchased at the northwest corner of Market and Fifth streets. One of the two dwelling houses on the site was remodeled for a parsonage in 1909, and in the spring of 1912 work was begun on the church superstructure of the elegant church now occupied. The site and building cost over $16,000 and on May 4, 1913, when the property had been cleared of all indebtedness, the church was dedicated with appropriate and impressive services. The dedicatory sermon was preached by Dr. H. A. Gobin, vice president of DePauw University, and other notables of the church were on the rostrum.
Rev. W. B. Morgan, the present pastor, assumed his duties in the fall of 1911, and ministers to the needs of about 320 members of what is officially known as the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Monon. Preceding Mr. Morgan were John L. Boyd, the first pastor; Joseph Budd, Cole Brown, George Guild, Henry Fraley, George Mellender, William F. Jones, H. H. Middleton, J. B. Smith, H. B. Ball, W. Campbell, John E. Newbouse, R. H. Calvert, Whitfield Hall, Jasper I. McCoy, W. N. Dunham, G. A. Bond, Whitfield Hall (second incumbency), J. N. Harmon, J. T. Stafford, C. H. Jesse, J. T. Reeder, A. M. Virden, A. L. Clark, W. H. Broomfield, D. A. Rodgers, A. C. Northrop and A. A. Dunlavy.
As early as 1859 Rev. Lewis McCreary commenced holding occasional Baptist services in the schoolhouse at New Bradford. The interest thus aroused led, in January, 1865, to the regular organization of a church. The charter members of this pioneer Baptist society, who organized on the 14th of that month, were John W. Miller, Sarah Gazeway, John W. Cox, Theodore Hildebrand, Jerusha Hildebrand, Elizabeth Ann Hildebrand, Esther May King, Margaret Dunlap, Anna F. Cox, Elder J. H. Dunlap, Julia Miller, Josephine Amanda Miller, Mary E. Sparrow and Margaret A. Chamberlain.
The little band of workers had a steady growth. In 1869 they began to build a house of worship, which they completed in October of that year. Its dedication—at which Rev. Mr. Stone officiated--marked the occupancy of the first church structure in Monon Township, and for several years it was shared by the Baptists with other denominations. The Sunday school was also a union establishment. In 1908 the church building was reconstructed, and at the rededication Dr. E. W. Lounsbury, then of Chicago, preached from the appropriate text: "The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former." The church has a membership of about 200.
As to the pastors, Lewis McCreary occupied the pulpit at the organization of the church and again in 1880. J. H. Dunlap, D. S. French, B. B. Craig and D. J. Huston followed, the last two serving two pastorates each. B. A. Nelson succeeded Mr. Huston, whose second pastorate was from 1878 to 1884; C. A. Rice assumed the charge in 1885; J. M. Kendall, 1886; J. T. Green, 1888; W. H. Van Clcave, 1890; L. F. Galey, 1892; L. O. Stiening, 1894; I. B. Morgan, 1896; J. A. Haynes, 1899; C. J. Bunnell, 1903; G. H. O'Donnell, 1905; A. J. Unthank, 1906; E. B. DeVault, 1908; R. B. Wright, 1912, and C. F. Dame, 1914.
Monon, as an intelligent and progressive town, has a number of well-patronized societies, both benevolent and industrial. Being quite a railroad center, the trainmen and other employees have several strong organizations, while the standard benevolent and secret orders, such as the Odd Fellows, Masons, the Pythian order, Maccabees and Independent Order of Red Men have lodges, some of which are supported by members of both sexes. Perhaps the strongest and the oldest is Monon Lodge No. 524, I. O. O. F., which was instituted in February, 1876.